Refrigerator appliances generally include one or more food compartments, e.g., a fresh food compartment and/or freezer compartment, to maintain foods at low temperatures. The fresh food compartment or freezer compartment of a refrigerator is typically accessible through an opening. Access to the opening may be provided by one or more doors connected by hinges to the rest of the appliance. Refrigerator appliances typically include sealing elements to avoid or minimize energy losses, e.g., to prevent ambient air from leaking into the appliance and cold air from leaking out of the appliance. Such sealing elements may be configured to interact or cooperate with the door(s) of the refrigerator appliance to retain cold air within the freezer and fresh food compartments while still allowing the user to easily access articles, e.g., food items, stored in the one or more food compartments.
Sealing elements may include gaskets which interact with the door(s) in order to seal the door(s) against the refrigerator cabinet when the door(s) is/are closed. Some refrigerator appliances include two rotatably mounted opposing doors for access to a single opening, e.g., at the fresh food compartment. Such door configurations are generally referred to as French doors. French doors are desirable because they reduce the weight load on the door hinge. French doors divide the corresponding opening in two, such that each door weighs less than a single door would weigh. The relatively reduced weight of each individual door in a French door configuration allows the size of the support structure of each door to be reduced. French doors also increase accessibility to the refrigerator cabinet and provide additional storage arrangements that are not possible with a single-door design.
However, French doors require additional seals; in particular, the middle of the refrigerator opening where the two doors meet must maintain a seal when the doors are closed. Accordingly, some French door refrigerators include a stationary vertical mullion bar in the middle of the corresponding opening, and each door may sealingly engage the mullion. A stationary mullion limits the size of items that can be put into the refrigerator. Some French door refrigerators include a movable mullion attached to one of the doors such that access to the corresponding compartment via the respective opening is not obstructed by the mullion when the door to which the mullion is attached is opened. However, in some instances, the movable mullion may become misaligned and as a result may impair the sealing engagement of the doors or may inhibit the doors from opening or closing.
Accordingly, improved mullions for use in refrigerator appliances that address one or more of the challenges described above would be beneficial.